R.e.a.hldgs. Regulatory News (RE.)

5 Jun 2007 15:31

R.E.A.Hldgs PLC05 June 2007 Annual General Meeting of R.E.A. Holdings plc ("REA") Trading update The crop of oil palm fresh fruit bunches to end May 2007 amounted to 132,400tonnes against a budget of 132,600 tonnes. Extraction rates are also running inline with budget. Current cropping levels suggest that the operations have nowrecovered from the cyclic crop depression that commenced in the second half of2006. Rainfall to end May amounted to an average 2,380 mm across the operations. Thiswas materially higher than the 1,720 mm recorded in the corresponding period of2006. Heavy flooding occurred in the month of May but, with the group's secondfactory now operational, the disruptions to harvesting and crop transport thatsuch flooding has caused in the past were avoided. Revenues are running ahead of budget as a result of the increasing world marketprice of crude palm oil ("CPO"). This has risen from slightly over US$ 600 pertonne, CIF Rotterdam, at the start of the year to a current level of over US$800 per tonne. Some Indonesian government ministers have recently expressedconcern over the effect that the current high world price of CPO is having onthe price of cooking oil in the Indonesian domestic market. This has led tospeculation that the rate at which export tax is levied on Indonesian exports ofCPO may be materially increased. Indonesian CPO producers have proposed that, inlieu of an export tax, the producers should volunteer to sell a proportion oftheir production in the domestic market at a price agreed with the Government.If agreed, it is thought that this would result in the group selling in theregion of 500 tonnes per month at an FOB price equivalent (at current exchangerates) to some $630 per tonne. The directors will comment on their expectations as regards dividends in respectof 2007 when the interim results for the year are announced. Whilst the currentlevel of revenues is encouraging, the group remains committed to a majorprogramme of capital expenditure and this continues to make substantial demandson the group's cash resources. Resolutions passed at the REA annual general meeting All of the resolutions set out in the notice of the REA annual general meetingdated 2 May 2007 were duly passed. Copies of the three resolutions passed asspecial business (which have provided replacement authorities for the allotmentof relevant securities and a fresh authority under section 95 of the CompaniesAct 1995 regarding the issue of ordinary shares for cash) have been submittedto, and will shortly be available for inspection at, the UK Listing Authority'sDocument Viewing Facility at: Financial Services Authority,25 The North Colonnade,Canary Wharf,London,E14 5HSTelephone: (0)20 7676 1000 A total of 32,573,856 ordinary shares of REA were eligible to vote at the annualgeneral meeting with each ordinary share carrying one vote on a poll. Proxieswere received for use in connection with the annual general meeting with thefollowing instructions (treating proxies giving discretion to the chairman as a"for" instruction): Resolution (number and subject matter) For Against Abstain 1 Annual report 20,142,021 13,719 49,3502 Directors' remuneration report 17,836,221 - 2,368,8693 Re-election of R M Robinow 19,833,512 87,719 283,8594 Re-election of J M Green-Armytage 20,112,121 74,000 18,9695 Re-election of J R M Keatley 19,225,348 956,496 23,2466 Re-election of D H R Killick 20,142,021 44,100 18,9697 Re-election of L E C Letts 20,107,844 74,000 23,2468 Auditors 20,186,121 13,719 5,2509 Allotment of ordinary shares 20,198,669 - 6,42110 Allotment of preference shares 20,198,669 - 6,42111 Cash issues of ordinary shares 20,198,669 - 6,421 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange